POSSIBLY BY MAYHEW AND INCE, CIRCA 1770

The prominent use of yewwood and the remnants of the ebonising to the edge of the top are some of the many features that have been identified as characteristic of the Golden Square firm of Mayhew and Ince (see: The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 589-593). Prime among these is the use of yewwood as a large scale veneer, 'the only wholly idiosyncratic veneer wood the firm used and possibly unique to Mayhew and Ince among London cabinet-makers of this date' (ibid., p. 593). The firm supplied a veneered yewwood commode to Sir Brook Bridges of Goodnestone Park, Kent, that was exhibited in Treasures from Kent Houses, Royal Museum, Canterbury, September-October 1984, no. 57.